Terms of Sale and Use

Where Carry On is offered

Carry On is run from the United States, priced in US dollars, and offered for use in the United States.

Age ratings

Some series carry an age rating: All ages, 13+, 16+ or 18+. The rating is the writer's description of the story, shown to help you choose what to listen to.

Your account

• One person per account. Keep your password to yourself; you're responsible for what happens under your account.
• Use an email address you can receive mail at. We send sign-in, password and security emails there.
• Your display name is private. Your name appears publicly only if you choose a public name for reviews (see Reviews and public names).

You can stop using Carry On at any time. To close your account, sign in and press Ask Carry On to delete my account on your account page. We complete the request within 45 days, and you can cancel it until then. Before we can complete it, a plan that renews has to be cancelled and, if you write for Carry On, your Writer Agreement has to end. If you can't sign in, reset your password from the sign-in page; if that doesn't work, email mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com from the address on the account and we'll help. What deletion removes, and what we keep, is in the Privacy Policy.

You can ask for a refund of purchased coins you haven't spent before your account is deleted (see Refunds). Reward coins end with the account.

Suspension

We may suspend an account that breaks these terms, the content standards or the law, or that is used for fraud. A suspended account can still sign in, listen, and use what it already has: coins, unlocked episodes, a plan and Superfan. While it is suspended, it can't:

• buy coins, a plan or Superfan;
• post a review or change one (it can still withdraw a review);
• generate audio or use the AI chapter check in the Studio; or
• publish an episode, or change the audio of an episode that is already live.

Episodes that are already live stay live. Taking content down is a separate decision (see When content is taken down).

When we suspend an account, we tell you why in a message on the Messages page, unless the law or someone's safety prevents it, in which case the message says so. To appeal, reply there. We also tell you there when a suspension is lifted.

We may also close an account for the same reasons. If we close your account for any reason other than fraud or an abusive chargeback, we refund the purchased coins you hadn't spent.

Free listening and daily limits

Anyone can hear the first episode of a series free, signed in or not.

With a free account you can also hear episodes 2 and 3 of every series free, as often as you like. A Carry On exclusive is free with an account for its first 40% of episodes, rounded down, when that is more than three. Some series are free in full with an account; their series page and the Free to listen shelf say so. After that, episodes open with coins, a plan or Superfan.

These limits come from our listening rules, which we may change. The current numbers are always shown on the Coins and plans page and in the player, and those are the ones that apply.

Coins

Coins unlock individual episodes. You buy them in packs, at the price shown in the store and at checkout. Each locked episode shows its price in coins before you unlock it; some writers price their earlier episodes lower.

• Coins have no cash value. They can't be exchanged for money, except for the refund of unspent purchased coins described under Refunds.
• Coins never expire, and there are no fees for holding them.
• Coins can't be transferred, sold or given to another account.
• When you spend coins, your oldest coins are used first.
• Coins you're given for free, such as invite rewards, unlock episodes the same way. They are never refundable, and they can be taken back if the purchase that earned them is refunded or charged back (see the referral rules).

An unlocked episode stays unlocked on your account for as long as the episode is published on Carry On. Unlocking doesn't buy the audio: it gives you a licence to listen (see What you get when you pay and When content is taken down).

Premium and Premium Plus plans

Premium and Premium Plus are monthly subscriptions. The price is shown on the Coins and plans page and at checkout, before you pay.

A plan lets you start any published episode while you have listening time left that day: 1 hour a day on Premium and 2 hours a day on Premium Plus. Time is counted in the episode's own length, so listening at double speed uses the same time as normal speed. Paused time doesn't count. The time resets at midnight UTC and unused time doesn't carry over. When it runs out, you can still unlock episodes with coins.

Your plan renews automatically every month. Your payment method is charged the plan's price at the start of each new month until you cancel.

To cancel: sign in, open Coins and plans, press Manage subscription, and cancel. You keep your plan until the end of the month you've already paid for; after that your account goes back to free and you aren't charged again. If you can't sign in, email mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com from the address on your account and we'll cancel it for you.

If we change a plan's price, we'll tell you before the new price applies to you, so you can cancel first.

Plans give you listening time, not ownership of episodes. They don't include coins or Superfan.

Superfan

Superfan is a one-time payment for one series. It's offered only after the writer marks the series complete. It lets your account play every published episode of that series without coins, a plan or a daily limit. It doesn't renew and doesn't include anything else. The price is shown before you pay.

Like an unlock, Superfan is a licence to listen on Carry On, and it covers the series' episodes for as long as they are published (see When content is taken down).

Writer membership

Writers who sign the Writer Agreement from 22 October 2026 need a writer membership to publish episodes on Carry On and to use the Studio's voices and sound effects. It is a subscription; the price is shown in the Studio and at checkout, before you pay. Without it you can still write, import and edit your scripts. Writers who signed before keep the terms they had and don't need one. Series Carry On commissions don't need one.

Your first 3 episodes are free. When you sign the Writer Agreement and need a membership, we add 36 production minutes to your account, once, and you don't need a membership until 3 of your own episodes are published. After that, the membership and bought minutes apply. Minutes from the free trial that you haven't used stay on your account; like other minutes Carry On adds, they have no cash value and aren't refundable.

Your first top-up pack is doubled. The first time you buy a pack of production minutes, of any size, we add the same number of minutes again, once. If that pack is refunded or its charge is reversed, the bonus minutes you haven't used are removed with it.

100 production minutes a month are included. Each paid month of your membership comes with 100 production minutes. They are used before any other minutes on your account, and the ones you don't use roll over: they're added on top of the next month's 100. Minutes that roll over have no cash value and aren't refundable; if your membership ends, they stay on your account and can be used again once you rejoin. If you need more in a month, you can buy top-up packs; minutes you buy carry over (see Refunds).

Your membership renews automatically every month. Your payment method is charged the membership's price at the start of each new month until you cancel.

To cancel: sign in, open Production minutes in the Studio, press Manage membership, and cancel. Your membership runs to the end of the month you've already paid for, and you aren't charged again. If you can't sign in, email mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com from the address on your account and we'll cancel it for you.

If your membership ends: episodes you already published stay published, and your drafts and unused minutes stay on your account. Until you join again you can't generate audio, use the AI chapter check, buy minutes or publish new episodes.

If we change the membership's price, we'll tell you before the new price applies to you, so you can cancel first.

What you get when you pay

Coins, unlocks, plans and Superfan give you a personal, non-transferable licence to listen to episodes on Carry On, for your own non-commercial use. You are not buying the audio or a copy of it, and the licence can end as these terms describe. Writers keep the copyright in stories they publish themselves; Carry On Audio owns the copyright in series it commissions. Carry On owns the audio productions.

You may not download, record, copy, share, sell or broadcast the audio, or use it to train or test AI systems.

Prices, payment and tax

• Prices are in US dollars. The price you pay is the one shown at checkout.
• Prices don't include sales tax. We don't add tax at checkout today; if we start, the tax will be shown at checkout before you pay.
• Payments are handled by our payment processor on its own secure checkout page. We never see or store your full card number.
• Promotion codes, when offered, are applied at checkout under that code's own terms. They have no cash value.

Refunds

These are our refund rules in full. To ask for a refund, email mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com from the address on your account, with the date and amount of the charge.

• Coins: you can get a refund for purchased coins you haven't spent. We refund the value of the unspent coins from that purchase (the price you paid, divided by the coins in the pack, times the coins left, rounded down to the cent) to your original payment method, and remove those coins. Spent coins are final, and episodes you unlocked stay unlocked.
• Reward coins from invites or other promotions are never refundable.
• Plans: cancel any time to stop future charges. We don't refund a month you've already started. If you were charged by mistake, for example twice, or after you cancelled, tell us and we'll refund the mistaken charge.
• Superfan: Superfan is final once paid. If something went wrong with your purchase, write to us and we'll review it.
• Production minutes (for writers making audio in the Studio): you can get a refund for production minutes you bought and haven't used. We refund the value of the unused minutes from that pack (the price you paid, divided by the minutes in the pack, times the minutes left, rounded down to the cent) to your original payment method. When any part of a pack is refunded, all of that pack's unused minutes are removed. Minutes you've used are final. Minutes you earned, that Carry On added, or that came with your membership, are never refundable. Production minutes have no cash value, can't be transferred, and can be used only while your Writer Agreement is in force, your account isn't suspended and, if you need one, your writer membership is active.
• Writer membership: cancel any time to stop future charges. We don't refund a month you've already started. If you were charged by mistake, for example twice, or after you cancelled, tell us and we'll refund the mistaken charge.
• Disputed charges: if you dispute a charge with your bank and the dispute is decided in your favour, we remove any unspent coins, or unused production minutes, from that purchase. Episodes you already unlocked stay unlocked.

Nothing here takes away a refund right the law gives you.

When content is taken down

Episodes can be taken down. When they are, you lose access to them, even if you paid for them.

A writer may unpublish an episode or a series. We may also take content down if it breaks our content standards or the law, after a copyright complaint, or if we stop offering it. When an episode is unpublished, nobody can play it any more, including listeners who unlocked it with coins or bought Superfan for its series. Audio that is already playing may keep working for up to an hour.

We don't automatically refund coins or Superfan payments when content is taken down. If it happens to something you paid for, write to us at mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com.

We may also change, add or remove features of Carry On.

AI voices and AI tools

The voices in Carry On episodes are generated with AI. They are not recordings of human actors. Each writer chooses which voice plays each character and directs the performance (delivery, pace and tone), and Carry On produces, sound-designs and mixes the episode. Sound effects and background ambience are generated with AI too.

Writers can also ask an AI reviewer to check a chapter for mistakes before it is produced. It points out problems; it doesn't write or change the story.

Voices may not imitate a real person without that person's permission (see the content standards). How scripts are handled by our AI providers is explained in the Privacy Policy.

Reviews and public names

• You can rate and review a series after finishing 2 of its episodes while signed in. Writers can't review their own series, and Carry On staff can't post reviews.
• A review is your honest opinion. Nobody is paid or rewarded for a review, and we never hide a review because of its rating.
• Reviews appear as "A listener" unless you choose a public name and photo on your profile. You can change or remove those, and edit or withdraw your review, at any time. A withdrawn review stops showing but stays in our records.
• By posting a review, a public name or a photo, you let us show it on Carry On and in search results.

We may hide a review, or remove a public name or photo, only if it reveals private or confidential information; is abusive, harassing, threatening, obscene or sexually explicit; contains someone else's personal information or likeness; is discriminatory; is clearly false or fake; or has nothing to do with the series. A public name may not be an email address or a link, or pretend to be Carry On, its staff or a writer.

Using Carry On fairly

Please don't:

• break the law, or use Carry On to harm or harass anyone;
• share your account, or make extra accounts to get more free episodes, coins or invite rewards;
• get around listening limits, locks or other protections, or download or record the audio;
• inflate plays, ratings, reviews or rankings, or use bots, scrapers or scripts on the site;
• interfere with Carry On's security or systems, or try to reach information that isn't yours;
• pretend to be someone else, including a writer or Carry On.

Writers must also follow the content standards and their Writer Agreement or commissioned-writing agreement.

Writers' work and copyright complaints

Writers own the copyright in the stories they publish themselves; Carry On Audio owns the copyright in series it commissions, and the writer is credited as agreed. If you believe something on Carry On infringes your copyright, send a notice by email to mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com with "Copyright notice" in the subject. Please include:

• your physical or electronic signature;
• the work you say is infringed;
• the material on Carry On you say infringes it, with links so we can find it;
• your name, address, phone number and email address;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use isn't authorised by the owner, its agent or the law; and
• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or are authorised to act for the owner.

When we get a complete notice, we take the material down and tell the writer or listener who posted it. For a series or an episode, that means we unpublish it, so nobody can play it, and we tell the writer in a message on their Messages page who sent the notice and which work it names. While the notice is open, the series or episode it names can't be published again or moved to another series, and its audio can't be published as part of another episode. Posting the same material again in any other way breaks these terms (see repeat infringers below).

If the writer or listener believes it was taken down by mistake or misidentification, they can send a counter-notice to the same address (a writer can also reply to our message) with: their signature; what was removed and where it appeared; a statement under penalty of perjury that they believe it was removed by mistake or misidentification; their name, address and phone number; and a statement that they consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the district where their address is (or, outside the US, any district where Carry On may be found) and will accept service from the person who sent the notice.

We send a copy of the counter-notice to the person who sent the notice. Then, 10 to 14 business days after the day we received the counter-notice, we put the material back, unless the person who sent the notice tells us before then that they have gone to court. We tell the writer in Messages when it is back, and if anything couldn't go back up.

We close the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe, and end the Writer Agreement of writers who do. Knowingly sending a false notice or counter-notice can make you liable for damages.

Invites

Invite rewards follow the referral rules, which are part of these terms.

Our responsibility to you

We work hard to keep Carry On running and the audio playing, but we provide it "as is" and can't promise it will always be available, uninterrupted or free of errors.

As far as the law allows, we are not responsible for indirect or consequential losses, and our total responsibility to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. These limits don't apply where the law doesn't allow them, and they don't affect consumer rights that can't be waived.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version and date at the top of this page show which version is in force. If a change matters to you, for example to prices, refunds or what you get, we'll tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect. If you keep using Carry On after that, the new terms apply; if you don't agree, you can stop using Carry On and close your account.

Maryland law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland and applicable US federal law. If something goes wrong, please write to us first at mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com; most things can be fixed by email. Any lawsuit about these terms or Carry On must be brought in the state or federal courts located in Maryland, and you and we agree to those courts' jurisdiction. Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the place you live.

The rest

• These terms, the Privacy Policy, the content standards and the referral rules are the whole agreement between you and us about using Carry On. If you're a writer, your Writer Agreement (or, for a series Carry On commissions, your commissioned-writing agreement) also covers your stories and your pay, and it wins over these terms on matters between you and Carry On. It never takes away anything these terms give listeners.
• If part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• If we don't enforce something straight away, we haven't given up the right to.
• We may transfer these terms to a business that takes over Carry On. You may not transfer them.
• Creating an account, with your email or with Google, after being told that doing so means you agree, is your electronic agreement to these terms and the Privacy Policy, and counts the same as a signature. Paying at checkout is your agreement to these terms too.

Contact

Carry On Audio, a sole proprietorship based in Maryland, USA. Email mykaielpatterson@carry-onaudio.com for refunds, cancellations, copyright notices, privacy requests and anything else.